Egg size question

Six Goldies

Chirping
9 Years
Aug 9, 2014
51
8
91


Starting on Wed.. We had four eggs.. (Top row..First egg slightly different) currently only 3 of 4 Golden sex links are laying as of Nov.1st. In December we added 3 -15week old Blk Austrolorps. The four eggs were all good sized and I know who lays which of 3 eggs. Thursday we had only 2 eggs Wed 4 eggs and this was one of them... The egg is 1 1/2" X 1" (Friday 3 again.)



This morning my girls were raising such a raucous, I went out 6:45AM to see what was going on (before the neighbors got mad.. LOL) and there were two eggs in our #1 box... this is the second time we had a small egg approx 1 1/2"L x 1"W.. we aren't sure who this belongs too.. One of the Blk ustrolorps or the 4th Sex Link that should have started laying by the End of Nov like the other 3 girls.. any Ideas or reason for such a small egg?

They all are on Organic layer & grower mixed (now that the blk girls are old enough) plus oyster shell free choice.

 
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It's not at all unusual for hens to start or end an egg laying cycle with small or soft shelled eggs. It may be from one of the Australorps or the fourth sex link.
 
It's likely that the large egg is a double yolker. Eggs will start out small, then gradually get larger over time as their bodies adjust to laying.
 
Well mystery solved as far as who.. My husband was out tending to the girls when he noticed one of the BA's squatted down looking up at him, he said he bent down and petted (our usually aloof) girl. And its the smallest one of the 3.

Question now.. Why so small? I thought Australorps laid jumbo eggs? these are about the size of a large walnut.
 
It's likely that the large egg is a double yolker. Eggs will start out small, then gradually get larger over time as their bodies adjust to laying.
Not so sure about double yokers, we haven't had any as of yet. But something to look out for.
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Well mystery solved as far as who.. My husband was out tending to the girls when he noticed one of the BA's squatted down looking up at him, he said he bent down and petted (our usually aloof) girl. And its the smallest one of the 3.

Question now.. Why so small? I thought Australorps laid jumbo eggs? these are about the size of a large walnut.

If I am reading your posts correctly, the BA were added very recently and are young pullets just beginning their first laying cycle, is that correct? If so, that is the answer to your question. Yes, mature laying hens of the BA breed produce large eggs, but for most breeds the largest eggs are produced during a hens second and subsequent laying cycles, not the first.
 
It's not at all unusual for hens to start or end an egg laying cycle with small or soft shelled eggs. It may be from one of the Australorps or the fourth sex link.

Thanks for your response, I don't remember how small the eggs were when the first eggs were laid, I know they weren't as small as these two are, but the shells were nice and hard. Will have to watch and see how they come along.
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If I am reading your posts correctly, the BA were added very recently and are young pullets just beginning their first laying cycle, is that correct? If so, that is the answer to your question. Yes, mature laying hens of the BA breed produce large eggs, but for most breeds the largest eggs are produced during a hens second and subsequent laying cycles, not the first.

Yes, They were added Dec 12th and were 15wks old then. Our sex links lay for their first year large eggs, so I just assumed the BAs' would be large too. this is our first year with the chickens. We just started in May last year with 6-six week old sex link pullets. We are still on that learning curve.
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I just got my first hen we've had her for all of a week, we've had a solitary rooster for 5 years. Despite being a bantam hen she has been laying a decent sized egg for us every other day, but she was feral when we picked her up and she is very thin. Yesterday her egg was smaller than normal not by much mind you, but she's so thin that I'm being hypersensitive to even the smallest changes. I'm pretty sure the egg is smaller because shes so thin. Food is available around the clock, I mix it myself then add Ultra Kibble crumble to make sure the proper nutrients are covered. She has Oyster shells, greens and water readily available, she's eating about 2 cups a day.

Anyway I keep hearing about the laying cycle, and its making me wonder. I assume it has to do with spring/summer vs fall/winter, but I'm not sure that will affect my hen. I live in Hawaii and we have pretty consistent daylight hours, in addition to that she is an indoor bird so her light cycle is more akin to the longer days of summer on the mainland. The lights go on at 7am and the babies get put to bed between 9:30 and 10pm. There's just so many variables... plus can she really keep up THIS pace?


White egg on the far left is a store bought Extra large, the one in the middle is normal for her, and the one on the far right is the "small" one... I told you I was being overly sensitive.
 

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